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Wednesday, May 21, 2008

When the Dust Settled

And then there were four. Four familiar faces have made their way to NCAA Div. I lacrosse Championship Weekend: Virginia, Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, and Duke. The four have 21 championships and an additional 19 championship appearances between them, with the Blue Devils being the lone team remaing to have never hoisted the trophy. In fact, one of these four has won the championship each year since 2002 and at least one has competed for it each year since 1999. There is a lot of history in these four squads.

So who am I pulling for? Let's start with who i'm not. If you've been reading this blog for more than 5 seconds, you've likely inferred that I'm no Duke fan, so let's get that out of the way. In addition to the normal dislike however, this team is still not too far removed from the yeah-the-rape-was-a-lie-but-some-BS-still-went-down team of 2006. So I certainly can't wish any success on them.

The next team I'd eliminate is Hopkins. Call it hateration, call it what you will, but I've really got no ill will towards the Blue Jays. However, this year showed them to be vastly overrated, in terms of rankings and ultimately seeding, given their 5 game skid at mid-season. If they were in this very same position after having clawed their way up from an unseeded position, I'd wish them all the luck in the world, but after having been handed their seeding on a silver platter, I can't root for them.

Which leads me to Syracuse. I've got no problem seeing the Orange take it all. As a Big East (South Florida) alum who's anxious about the prospect of Big East lacrosse (which goes to vote this month), I'd love to see a victory for the yet-to-be-established conference.

And then there's UVA. As a UMBC fan, I'm inclined to root for them, because then we will have at least lost in the first round to the eventual national champion.

Regardless, this holiday weekend shapes up to be full of great lacrosse action in Foxborough and on the ESPN family of networks!